Kathy Sierra has pointed out another mind blowing concept:
Eleanor Roosevelt said“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
I don't know about the every day thing, but taking risks takes practice, and if we keep doing the same things we already know, in the same way, our willingness to dare to be different atrophies. … Most of us don't want to be labeled “risk averse”. We don't want to take stupid risks, but we don't want to be all Who Moved My Blackberry either. So consider this my quarterly reminder (to myself, more than anyone else) to–as Eleanor Roosevelt also said:
You must do the things you think you cannot do.
I love this!
This is part of keeping life exciting and staying young! Kids are always doing something scary and new! It is adults that lose the desire to try new things and do new things! That is why I so love the Internet and the blogosphere. Although I live in my small town of 5,000 I am exposed to the best in thought!
I can listen to podcasts to teach me new things. Last week, I learned how to make multi page posters in Excel. I've used it three times in the last week, it is really cool! After I got past the, “Why would I do that?” and “It is so stupid to want to do that!” I got to “Wow! I can really use this!”
When we do things that are scary we can better relate to our students. It is scary to get out of our comfort zone. But we are grateful to those who guide us into new territories that we need to explore.
Teachers must continue to learn. Learning can be scary. So, get out there and learn something scary.
Here are some options guaranteed to get you out of your comfort zone:
Take the new Web 2.0 book that I recommended earlier and try something in the book.
Find a podcast and start listening:
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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